Suspension support for expansible vessels



March 10, 1959 M. 'P. WALL ETAL S 2,876,925

SUSPENSION SUPPORT FOR EXPANSIBLE VESSELS Filed Oct. 2, 1953 S Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Marion P.'Wo|l Herbert D. Becker [T10 EY March 10, 1959 I P. WALL ET AL v SUSPENSION SUPPORT FOR EXPANSIBLE VESSELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1953 w M 1 w I. &% a

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INVENTOR. Marion P. Wall Herbert D. Becker March 10, 1959 M. P. WALL ETAL Filed. 001:. 2, 1953 SUSPENSION SUPPORT FOR EXPANSIBL E VESSEL-S 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6.

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INVENTOR. Marion P. Wall Herbert D. 'Be cker United States Patent SUSPENSION SUPPORT FOR EXPANSIBLE VESSELS Marion P. Wall, Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and Herbert D. Decker, Jamaica, N. Y., assignors to Combustion Engineering, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 2, 1953, Serial No. 383,873 7 Claims. (Cl. 220-18) This invention relates to vertically suspended vessels and particularly to vessels suspended from a plurality of equally spaced points about their circumference in a unique manner so as to substantially eliminate any bending moment on the walls of the vessels due to such suspension and so as to accurately maintain the vertical center line of the vessel at a fixed location.

The invention comprises a cylindrical vessel vertically disposed and supported at a plurality of points or locations equally spaced about its circumference and positioned within a common horizontal plane located intermediately within the vertical extremities of the vessel. At each of these locations of support the vessel wall is thickened and provided with an inwardly extending relieved portion forming a downwardly facing support shoulder through which the weight of the vessel is supported. The support shoulders are located in the wall so as to be in the line of action of the force at each of these locations in order to eliminate the creation of any bending moments in the vessel wall due to this support. Individual support means are provided at each of these locations for supporting the vessel. These support means comprise a radially extending arm provided at its inner end with an upstanding nose in engagement with the downwardly facing support shoulder formed in the vessel wall. Each of the arms is hung from a stationary support by means of a triangle or V-shaped hanger connected to the stationary support and to the arm by universally movable connections and arranged so that movement of the connection with the arm is restricted to the vertical plane containing the axis of the arm. The outer end of each of the arms is restrained against upward movement by means of a triangular or V-shaped strut constructed in a manner similar to the hanger and connected to the stationary support and the arm through universally movable connections so arranged that the connection with the strut is restricted to the aforementioned vertical plane containing the axis of the arm. Through this arrangement endwise movement of the arm is restricted to a vertical plane extending radially of the vessel and containing the axis of the arm. The axis of rotation of the arm about the arms universal connections with the hanger and the strut is disposed radially of the vessel thereby permitting the arm to rotate about this axis to find the best setting engagement for the nose without eifecting the radial alignment of the arm.

It is the object of this invention to provide a vertically disposed expansible vessel with an improved suspension type of support operative to maintain the vertical axis of the vessel at a fixed predetermined location while permitting limited expansion of the vessel and operative to support the vessel without producing any substantial bending moment in the vessels wall.

- Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds.

With the aforementioned objects in view, the invention comprises an arrangement, construction and combination of the elements of the vessel organization in such a manner as to attain the results desired as hereinafter more particularly set forth in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment, said embodiment being shown by the'accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a double walled vessel embodying the invention and showing one of the suspension support means for the vessel;

Figure 2 is a top view taken from line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the equal spacing of the suspension support means circumferentially about the vessel;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showing ;the suspension support means in detail;

Figure 4 is detailed section taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3 showing the interconnection of the inner and outer vessel walls and the disposition of the inner end of the support arm in the relieved portion formed within the vessel wall;

Figure 5 is an elevational view taken along line 55 of Fig. 3 showing the corrugated diaphragm which forms a part of the outer wall;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3 and showing the hanger which forms a part of the support means;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3 and showing the strut which forms a part of the support means.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters identify like elements throughout the several views, the vertically disposed vessel illustratively disclosed therein comprises an inner wall 10 and an outer wall 12 interconnected in a fluid tight manner and forming opening 14 at the upper end of the vessel. The vessel is suspended from three locations 16, 18 and 20 equally spaced about its circumference and disposed in a horizontal plane intermediate the vertical extremities of the vessel. In order to provide a stable suspension it is preferable to locate these suspension points above the center of gravity of the vessel although an operative arrangement will be provided if they are located below the center of gravity with, of course, a sacrifice in stability which increases with an increase in the distance below the center of gravity.

At each of the locations 16, 18 and 20 forged circular disks 22 are welded into the vessels inner wall 10 and are interconnected with the outer wall 12 through flexible corrugated diaphragms 24 the latter being welded at their inner circumference to disk 22 and at their outer circumference to wall 12. These disks provide a thickened wall portion for the vessel at each of the locations of support in order that the point of force transmission may be properly located as hereinafter explained.

Each of the disks 22 is formed with a relieved portion 26 extending inwardly from its outer surface and forming a downwardly facing support shoulder 28 (Fig. 3) which is engaged by a suspension means, generally designated 30, operative to accurately maintain the vertical alignment of the vessel while permitting radial expansion of the vessel. The shoulder 28, through which the weight of the vessel is transmitted downward to the suspension means, is located directly in the line of action of the load at each of the locations 16, 18 and 20 so as to virtually eliminate any bending moments on the walls of the vessel due to its suspension and thereby eliminate what would otherwise be points of weakness in the vessel wall. In

I with outer wall 12 by means of flexible diaphragm 24 3 permits relative radial movement between inner and outer walls and 12, respectively, caused by temperature diiferences between these walls.

In order to maintain the vertical axis of the vessel at an accurately fixed location the suspension means 30, one of which is provided at each of these locations at 16, 18 and 20, is constructed so as to accommodate radial expansion of the vessel without displacement of its center line. Each of the suspension means 30 comprises a horizontal radially direct arm 32 at its inner end with an upstanding projection or rounded nose 34 in engagement with support shoulder 28. The arm 32 is mounted so that it can move radially of the vessel and for this purpose triangular or V-shaped hanger 36 is suspended from stationary support 38 by means of the spaced ball and socket joints 40 with the arm being hung from the apex or lower end of this hanger through ball and socket joint 42. The outer end of arm 32 is restrained against upward movement by triangular or V-shaped strut 44 which is connected with stationary support 38 by spaced ball and socket joint 46, which are vertically adjustable as shown, and with arm 32 by ball and socket joint 48. The two ball and socket joints 40 lie in a horizontal line which is disposed in a plane normal to the axis of arm 32 while the ball and socket joints 46 are similarly disposed in a horizontal line contained in a plane normal to the axis of arm 32. With this construction the suspension means is inherently free of lost motion and through this means endwise movement of arm 32 is confined within a vertical plane which contains the axis of arm 32 and is accordingly radial of the cylindrical vessel.

It will be observed that with the suspension means 30 as disclosed, as arm 32 moves within its vertical radially disposed plane either inwardly or outwardly of its neutral position, where triangular hanger 36 is vertically depending from support 38, nose 34 will move arc-wise. The suspension means thus has the property of homing or tending to return to its aforementioned neutral position since when arm 32 is pivoted from its vertical position due to expansion or contraction of the vessel a moment will be set up which tends to return the entire suspension means to its neutral position. It should be noted, however, that while when triangular hanger 36 and triangular strut 44 are of the same length nose 34 will move arcwise upon radial movement of arm 32 from the neutral position this effect of arc-wise movement of nose 34 may readily be varied by manipulating the relative efiective length of hanger 36 and strut 44. If strut 44 is shortened relative to hanger 36 the arc-wise path of nose 34 may be flattened sutliciently so as, for all practical purposes, to be a straight line within the Working range of the suspension means. Conversely if hanger 36 is effectively shorter than strut 44 the arc-wise path of nose 34 is sharpened with the homing tendency and lifting effect being intensified.

In order that arm 32 may rotate axially about ball and socket joints 42 and 48 to find the best seating engagement for nose 34 in support shoulder 28 without loss of radial alignment of the arm these ball and socket joints are themselves disposed in radial alignment so that this axial rotation takes place about an axis which is radial of the vessel.

With the novel suspension organization of this invention, as the vessel expands or contracts radially either due to temperature or pressure changes this radial movement will be equally accommodated by the three suspension means 30 so that notwithstanding such radial movement the vertical axis of the vessel will remain accurately fixed at a predetermined location as required in certain industrial processesv While we have illustrated and described a preferred em: bodiment of our novel suspension organization it is to be understood that such is merely illustrative and not restrictive and that variations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope 4 of the invention. We therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail ourselves of such changes as fall within the purview of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. In a generally vertically disposed cylindrical vessel supported at a plurality of locations symmetrically disposed about its circumference the combination of individual support means at each of said locations comprising a radially disposed lever supporting the vessel from its inner end, a hanger pivotally connected to said lever intermediate the ends of the lever and pivotally hung from a stationary support at spaced intervals located in a horizontal plane, on opposite sides of the vertical plane containing said lever and in a plane normal to said lever, a strut pivotally connected to the outer end of said lever and to a stationary support in such a manner as to restrain said outer end from upward movement, the connection with the support being at spaced intervals located in a horizontal plane on opposite sides of the vertical plane containing said lever and in a plane normal to said lever.

2. The combination of a generally vertical cylindrical vessel having its vertical wall provided with downwardly facing support shoulders spaced about its circumference and disposed in a common horizontal plane with each shoulder located intermediate the inner and outer surfaces of the wall in such a manner that the vessels wall is substantially free of bending moments induced by support at these locations, individual support means at each of said locations of support comprising a lever extending radially outward from the vessel wall and provided at its inner end with an upstanding projection in engagement with one of the shoulders, a hanger connected to said lever intermediate the ends of the lever through a universally movable connection and pivotally hung from a stationary support at spaced intervals located in a horizontal plane, on opposite sides of a vertical plane containing said lever and in a plane normal to said lover, a strut operative to restrain the outer end of said lever from upward movement, said strut being connected to the outer end of said lever with a universally movable connection and pivotally connected to said support at spaced intervals located in a horizontal plane, on opposite sides of a vertical plane containing said lever and in a plane normal to said lever.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein the universal connection of the arm with the hanger and the strut are in a line disposed radial of the vessel.

4. In a generally vertically disposed cylindrical vessel supported at a plurality of downwardly facing support shoulders equally spaced about its circumference in a common horizontal plane, individual support means at each of said shoulders comprising a radially disposed lever the inner end of which contacts the shoulder, a hanger connected to said lever through a universally movable connection and pivotally hung from a stationary support in a manner to restrict movement of the connection with the lever to the vertical plane within which said lever is disposed, and strut means operative to restrain the outer end of the lever from upward movement, said strut means being connected to said lever through a universally movable connection and being pivotally connected to a stationary support in a manner to restrict movement of the connection with the lever to the vertical plane within which the lever is disposed.

5. In combination, a cylindrical vessel the major axis of which is generally vertical, said vessel having in its vertical Wall at least three recesses extending radially inward from the outer surface of the wall a distance less than the thickness of the wall at the particular location, said relieved portions being symmetrically arranged about the vertical axis of the vessel and disposed in a common plane normal to said vertical axis, said recesses presenting a downwardly facing support shoulder located between the inner and outer surfaces of the wall, means for suspending said vessel in said vertical position comprising an arm radially disposed outwardly of the vessel adjacent each recess and movably mounted in a manner so its movement is restricted to lying within a vertical plane passing through the axis of the vessel, the inner end of the arm being received within the associated recess and having an upstanding portion seating against the downwardly facing support shoulder therein, the location of said support shoulders and upstanding portions, and the interconnections between the arms and the vessel being gen erally in the line of action of the load at these locations so as to substantially completely eliminate the setting up of any bending moments in the vessel wall due to the suspension of the same.

6. The organization of claim 5 wherein the vessel wall is thickened at the location of said relieved portions.

7. In combination, a cylindrical vessel the major axis of which is generally vertical, said vessel having in its vertical wall at least three recesses extending radially inward from the outer surface of the wall a distance less than the thickness of the wall at the particular location, said recesses being symmetrically arranged about the vertical axis of the vessel and disposed in a common plane normal to said vertical axis, each of said recesses presenting a downwardly facing support shoulder through which said vessel is supported with said support shoulders being located in the vessel wall in line with the force of gravity exerted by the vessel at each shoulder, structural support means for supporting said vessel, said support means having its sole contact with said vessel at said downwardly facing shoulders and said support including a member disposed adjacent each support location and provided with an upwardly facing portion in contact with said downwardly facing shoulder, with each of said members being movable and mounted so that said movement is restricted to lying within a vertical plane passing through the axis of the vessel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 552,550 Schaum Jan. 7, 1896 997,361 Atlee July 11, 1911 1,344,452 Roth June 22, 1920 1,466,813 Werner Sept. 4, 1923 1,497,159 Porter June 10, 1924 2,136,443 Kepler Nov. 15, 1938 2,542,101 Suben Feb. 20, 1951 

